Gaping Head Wounds (or Persuasion)
by ALadyofStardust
Summary: In which Sarah gets a concussion and probably too many painkillers. This is in the same verse as Goblins Roasting on an Open Fire and a direct continuation of Resolutions (Apartment-verse).


**AN: So I hadn't intended to make this verse into a series...but it seems to have happened all on its own. I'll probably continue updating them as individual docs just because they probably won't be in any kind of order re: the timeline and I don't want to have to take down the other two that are already published. I'll put apartment-verse in the summary to denote that they belong to the same series.**

* * *

Well for starters, it had hurt like hell. She'd seen the patch of ice, but she definitely didn't see the concussion coming. Sarah was only half sure it was a concussion, but considering she was out cold for a few minutes and with two paramedics and a very expensive E.R. doctor ruling it a concussion, she was willing to go with them. Also she had a gaping head wound so her judgment was a little off.

"Now, with concussions you can sleep, but make sure you have someone to wake you up every hour," the doctor had instructed her. Sarah had promised to make arrangements before she was allowed to leave. Thankfully the doctor had also given her some pretty strong pain medication so she wasn't that fussed.

* * *

"Why of course my lady," Sir Didymus responded when she asked if he wouldn't mind waking her if she fell asleep that night. "I shall watch over thee valiantly and protect thee from all harm! I shall fight that great bandit known as death and defend thy soul!"

"Okay well, I don't think I'm in any danger of dying, but good to know. Thanks Sir Didymus, I appreciate it."

She didn't ask Didymus to stay with her; she knew it wasn't ideal for any of her Underground friends to stay Aboveground for too long. After a couple of hours they started to get a bit weak. Sarah figured the combination of living in the city surrounded by iron and a bunch of people who steadfastly did not, and would not believe in them probably wasn't great for their constitutions. Jareth didn't seem to have the same problems, though she figured that had to be one of the perks of being king and a frequent traveller between the worlds.

She hadn't seen Jareth since New Year's. It used to be there wasn't a week that went by without him barging in and covering her entire apartment in glitter. She had become very used to his presence and despite her best intentions; it had become comforting to her. She missed him. But God help her she'd never say it out loud. She knew what she'd done was wrong, she knew she'd messed up, but he was wrong 98% of the time and it wasn't like she got left alone then.

"_Okay but this is different," _her brain reminded her. There wasn't an easy fix for this. Sarah had said she was sorry. But despite everything, sometimes words weren't enough. She knew for sure they weren't the right words at any rate.

"I just want things to go back to the way they were," she sighed to herself. Things had been good. Weird, but good. She knew he had feelings for her, of course she knew she wasn't a complete idiot. But she didn't know … well what he had said to her was more than she could have thought.

It would have been so easy to say she didn't have any feelings for him, that she hate him and wanted him out of her life for good. That he could go right back to the Underground and stay there. But she didn't want that. It wasn't like she had _no _feelings for him, they just weren't speeches of undying love sort of feelings. She liked kissing him. She liked kissing him _a lot_ if she was being totally honest with herself.

Sarah cursed lightly under her breath at her own stupidity. It was better if she didn't think about it at all. She absently reached for her old copy of _Persuasion_ and settled in for the night. She'd always been more of a Brontë girl, but there was something to be said about Austen when you're feeling miserable. Her head was throbbing like crazy, the pain meds were helping but a cracked skull was still a cracked skull. She reached behind her hair to feel the staples in her head. She could get them taken out in a week but god she'd look a treat til then.

Sarah checked her watch; it was only 11:30. It was going to be a long night indeed.

She almost nodded off a couple of times but Sir Didymus was always there to wake her. After the second time, she had to take another dose of the painkillers. Her head was hurting far too much and she'd long since given up trying to concentrate on her book.

* * *

The third time she fell asleep properly. She heard the most beautiful music. It was so comforting and familiar. She was safe here. Sarah felt a cool hand on her cheek and turned away mumbling. No it wasn't time to wake up yet. This glittery dream was so much better than anything that could be out there.

"Sarah, please you must wake up," she heard the voice like at the end of a tunnel.

But she couldn't wake up – she was too busy dancing. Sarah always loved dancing with him.

"I need you to drink this tea. You only have to wake up for a few minutes."

Tea? What did she want with tea?

"It'll make you feel better I promise."

But she did feel better. Nothing hurt at all here.

She felt herself being propped up and reality came slowly shifting back into focus. Along with the splitting pain in her head.

"What happened?" she asked the room groggily. She wasn't sure who was there anymore but it sure didn't sound like Sir Didymus.

"You've fallen asleep for a little while. You need to drink this tea Sarah. It'll hurt less when you do."

Sarah silently reached for the cup and took a long drink. It tasted like dirt.

"Oh disgusting," she pushed the teacup back into his hands.

"Yes I know, but it serves its purpose."

"Where is Sir Didymus? He was supposed to make sure I didn't fall asleep for too long."

"I'm afraid there was a small emergency back home. He's taken care of it but him and your little dwarf friend are currently indisposed trying to scrub bog out of their ears. They both recognized the smell would make you feel worse and not better."

"They would be right," Sarah mumbled. Everything was still very blurry and distorted. She wasn't even sure she was really awake. She reached out towards him and felt the cool leather gloves under her hands.

"Jareth?" she asked softly.

"Yes precious," he placed his hand over hers.

"Jareth, you're here?" she said thickly. "You didn't…you weren't here. Before, you weren't here. Now you're...you left and then nothing."

"Well you didn't call," he said carefully.

Sarah shook her head. This was wrong.

"No, no I didn't. But neither did you. And I missed you," she moaned sadly. "I should never have kissed you that first time."

She dimly felt his hand tighten around hers.

"If you hadn't I can promise you – I would have. Sometimes you just have to kiss someone."

"No, no I shouldn't have kissed you. I liked kissing you, but I shouldn't have done it. It was wrong."

She heard him laugh at that.

"Oh Sarah, I think you and I are always a little bit wrong."

"I want you to promise me," she moved her other hand to his cheek. "Promise me you won't disappear like that on me again."

He pulled her hand free and lightly kissed the tips of her fingers.

"My word."

He pulled her bed covers around her. Sarah felt certain however, that she had fallen asleep on the couch. How had she ended up in her bed?

"But for now, you need to rest," he said to her seriously. "You've been injured and I'd guess from your forthrightness, well medicated."

"Well I do have a gaping head wound."

He laughed appreciatively.

"It would take a serious head injury for Sarah Williams to act as such."

Sarah nodded and felt her eyes closing.

"Read to me."

He grabbed the book she'd discarded earlier in the evening.

"It's bookmarked," she mumbled.

He chuckled seeing the page she had left at. "You would love this speech."

"Just read it."

"_I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone forever…"_

Sarah didn't hear anymore before she drifted off to sleep again. When she was next woken Sir Didymus was by her bedside and then Hoggle for the rest of the evening.

* * *

The next day Sarah pulled herself drowsily from bed.

"Well that sucked," she groaned to no one in particular. She got up to the kitchen to make herself some much needed coffee. Pulling herself free from the covers her copy of _Persuasion_ fell off the bed. She picked it up curiously. The bookmark was in the same place she'd left it.

"_I am half agony half hope."_

She vaguely remembered that being read aloud to her. She looked at the mirror, currently empty of visitors, sitting alone in her kitchen.

Carefully she walked to her living room. The blankets she'd been using were tangled on the floor. But there was no teacup. She walked over to examine the carpet. It was covered in glitter.

Had it been a heavily medicated dream then? Or did he really come and read to her?

Sarah shook her head. The stitches still hurt but she'd had just about enough of those painkillers. She was sticking to good old aspirin from now on.

Sarah gave a sidelong glance to her mirror. Well, she figured, it didn't hurt to ask.

"Hoggle – are you awake yet?" she asked into the mirror.

A sleepy looking dwarf appeared in the glass.

"Sarah? Yous feeling any better?" he asked her surprised. "You was pretty bumbly last time I checked in on yas."

"Yeah thank you Hoggle. I'm feeling much better. Thanks for looking in on me. I'd call Sir Didymus here and thank him too but I figure he's probably sleeping after keeping watch on me all night," she smiled at Hoggle. "Did you want to come in for a coffee or something?"

"Nah, I gots to get to bed meself. Pretty tired after lookin in on you and everythin' that happened with the bog gettin' stampeded."

Sarah's breath caught in her throat. That sounded familiar.

"The bog getting stampeded? So you and Didymus didn't happen to uh, take a dip in the water did you?"

Hoggle wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"Yeah very nearly. Damn chickens, acting like they gots any rights to be invadin' crown land. Didymus' fur skimmed the top and I had to lose some of my favourite warts and boils. But s'okay. They'll grow back in a week or so."

"Hoggle, weird question but bear with me," Sarah asked carefully. "Did uh, did Jareth happen to look in on me while you guys were attending to your bogging problems?"

Hoggle nodded.

"Yeah, when he heards you were hurt he offered to come check on yas. Stayed for a couple of hours I think. Wasn't there when I came to check on ya though."

Sarah's hands tightened around her mug. It hadn't been a dream then.

"Oh okay, thanks Hoggle. I'll let you get some rest. I just wanted to let you know I was okay."

Hoggle said his goodbye and vanished from her mirror.

Sarah struggled to remember just what exactly had happened last night. She remembered him giving her tea. She remembered it tasting terrible, and him - he had read to her. He read to her as she fell asleep. It felt silly now, though she couldn't help smiling when she thought of it.

There was her dream though. She was dancing with him again. She'd had the dream before but it had been a while. Though she really felt like she'd been carried away by…

Sarah looked at her bed again. He'd carried her. He'd carried her from the couch to her bed. Sarah groaned. It all came back to her. What she'd said – she told him she liked kissing him?!

"Oh no," she said quietly. "Oh crap. I should not have done that. Dammit I should not have done that!"

It wasn't that she didn't mean the things she said, it was just that there was no good to be had by saying them. Damn head wounds! Damn painkillers! Well those assholes were definitely getting flushed.

Sarah collapsed onto her couch. At least he'd promised her he wouldn't disappear again. Of course she would never have worded it the way she did if there wasn't a hole in her head, but … he was back. Maybe, just maybe, if she was really good, and really lucky, things could start to go back to their weird normal.

A sharp pain shot through her head at the thought. Rubbing her staples she knew that whatever normal was it was never going to happen. But he was talking to her again, so at least there was that. And all she'd had to do to fix things was crack her head open.

_Figured_.


End file.
